A rare Bone Replacement Surgery performed by Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, successfully cures an unusual cancer

Having undergone three failed surgeries to treat multiple point recurrent cancer of the leg bone in Uzbekistan, 24 year old SobidjOn Juraev had given up all hope of returning to a normal life. The resurgence of the cancer despite several rounds of treatment also posed serious threat of a leg amputation or worse, a disarticulation of the hip. This is when the young man and his family decided to travel to India to seek medical help.

In a rare and difficult surgery that lasted for 8 hours, Dr.Rajeev K Sharma, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics & Joint Replacement Surgery along with his team including Dr. V.P Singh, Cancer Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, performed an extremely rare form of Total Femoral Replacement Surgery on Mr. Juraev and removed the entire cancer-affected bone right from the hip to the knee, replacing it with an artificial Total Femoral Replacement implant.

The difficult surgery which was a combination of Hip & Knee Replacement has cured the patient of cancer, eliminating the risk of a permanent disability. A failure to get rid of the cancer affected bone would have led to two eventualities: either a disarticulation of the hip (surgical removal of the entire lower limb at the hip level) or an amputation of the leg to save the life of the man. However, both these situations would have resulted in permanent disability.

“We examined the patient thoroughly and discovered that the cancer in the Right femur bone had recurred. Now, it was at three points in the right femur bone between the hip and the knee, necessitating an amputation which would have been a life-long disability for the young man,” said Dr Rajeev K Sharma, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics & Joint Replacement Surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi.

“Total Femoral Replacement in this case was a very difficult and rare surgery as it was a kind of a combination of hip replacement, knee replacement and thigh bone replacement. To be able to get rid of the cancer completely, we needed to remove the entire stretch of thigh bone from the right hip to the right knee and reconstruct the same artificially. It was a challenging surgery as it involved the removal of the whole thigh bone at the same time. The challenges included threat of post-surgical infection, knee and hip instability and damage to the nerves and vessels of the area. However, in an 8-hour procedure, we successfully removed the full cancerous thigh bone and replaced it with an artificial Total Femoral Implant,” added Dr Sharma.

The patient is responding well to the surgery and hopes to get back to his normal youthful life soon.